Flying birds are aging? How safe are we flying in them?

As we move to a fast tomorrow, mode of transportation is one of the biggest questions we have in our minds. How can we move faster from point A to B spending least possible and in the least possible time? Hence our answer is the aircraft – Our flying birds, which has bridged the time zone and distances making everyone’s life hassle free.

Do we ever think what it takes to maintain these giants running and flying for thousand of miles? Are these birds in pristine condition when this is still possibly the safest mode of transportation? There are so many operators and ever ones claim’s to be better than the other. Which one is better than the other?

In the last few years I have flown most of the airlines operating in the continental US for work or pleasure and wondered which airlines does really take care of its fleet? I have come across so many instances where, the aircraft has made me feel that “hope everything is fine”. I have seen minor to some not so minor cosmetic issues.

So I decided to do some research on trying to find the age of some of the major airlines operating in the US. My search was for the following

-       American Airlines

-       United Airways

-       Continental Airlines

-       Delta Airlines

-       Southwest Airlines

-       US Airways

-       Alaska Airlines

-       JetBlue

Airlines	Aircraft Type	Number in Service	Average Age (Years)
American Airlines	Boeing 737 Next Gen	243	7
	Boeing 757	124	16.7
	Boeing 767	73	18.5
	Boeing 777	47	10.4
	McDonnell Douglas MD-80/90	221	19.8
	TOTAL	708	14.1
United Airlines	Airbus A319	55	11.3
	Airbus A320	97	13
	Boeing 737	8	15.4
	Boeing 737 Next Gen	47	6
	Boeing 747	24	16
	Boeing 757	134	17.4
	Boeing 767	38	15.4
	Boeing 777	62	12.3
	TOTAL	465	13.7
Continental Airlines	Boeing 737	20	15.3
	Boeing 737 Next Gen	258	9.7
	Boeing 757	25	10.8
	Boeing 767	23	9.8
	Boeing 777	12	9.8
	TOTAL	338	10.1
Delta Airlines	Airbus A319	57	9.2
	Airbus A320	69	16.1
	Airbus A330	32	5.8
	Boeing 737 Next Gen	109	8.9
	Boeing 747	16	17.6
	Boeing 757	186	17.4
	Boeing 767	93	14.8
	Boeing 777	18	6.2
	McDonnell Douglas MD-80/90	149	19.5
	TOTAL	729	14.7
Southwest	Boeing 737	197	19.6
	Boeing 737 Next Gen	493	12.2
	TOTAL	690	14.3
US Airways	Airbus A319	93	10.6
	Airbus A320	72	12.3
	Airbus A321	51	6.3
	Airbus A330	16	6.7
	Boeing 737	59	21.8
	Boeing 757	24	17.8
	Boeing 767	10	21.8
	Embraer 190/195	15	3.6
	TOTAL	340	12.6
Alaska Airlines	Boeing 737	30	15.8
	Boeing 737 Next Gen	105	6.3
	TOTAL	135	8.4
JetBlue	Airbus A320	118	6.4
	Embraer 190/195	46	3.8
	TOTAL	164	5.7

There is an effort across the board where the airlines are trying to replace the old birds with the newer models, however the newer airlines certainly have a modern fleet and top of the line navigation devices.

However based on the type of birds which you are flying in is what could potentially tell what you can expect.

My experience with JetBlue and Continental has been mostly great with very little complaints mainly from the aircraft maintenance point of view.

When I wanted to compare the above analysis with some other international airlines, here is what I could find

Airlines	Average Age (Years)
Air India	9.8
British Airways	12.2
Lufthansa	13.2
Swiss	13.3
Emirates	6.6
Air France	9.2
Qantas	11.7
Japan Airlines	10.6
KLM	10.3
Air Canada	10.9
Singapore Airlines	6.9

During this analysis, I wanted to see which are the oldest serving birds and who is operating them

Airlines	Aircraft Type	Age (Years)
Mahan Air (Iran)	A300	33.2
Aerounion (Mexico)	A300	32.1
Air France	A320	22.2
Air India	A320	22.1
Virgin Atlantic	A340	19.3
Top Fly (Spain)	ATR 42/72	26
Airphil Express (Philippines)	Boeing – 737	42.4
Pace Airlines (USA)	Boeing – 737	41.6
Kabo Air (Nigeria)	Boeing – 747	40.2
EAT Leipzig (Germany)	Boeing – 757	28.5
Delta Airlines	Boeing – 757	26.8

With air traffic increasing day by day are the skies not getting clogged with some of these ailing birds which needs to be grounded and reduce potential accidents caused due to metal fatigue and old wiring systems.

Under current economic situations, the airlines are unable to replace older aircrafts with new ones, however it is important to pass all these aircrafts under strict safety checks to prevent any issues that can mean severe loss to life.